The vendor landscape of the Asia Pacific offshore wind energy market is markedly fragmented, with local and regional players accounting for nearly 45% and the top three vendors collectively holding only about 31% of the overall market in 2016, observes Transparency Market Research in a recent report. Almost all key segments of the market, including project management and development services, supply of windfarm equipment and components, installation and commissioning, and operations and maintenance services are led by domestic and regional companies.

In the segment of windfarm components and equipment suppliers, for instance, local and regional companies Goldwind, Ming Yang, XEMC, and Sinovel dominate the market owing to their cost-effective products and capability to undertake aggressive research and development activities in the field of high-capacity turbines. However, foreign offshore wind turbine manufacturers are considered superior in terms of technological expertise. Thus, foreign players could capitalize on the technological advantage to make their mark and pacify the blow dealt by low price products and an intensifying cost competition.

According to the report, the Asia Pacific offshore wind energy market was pegged at US$8,960.8 mn in 2017 and is projected to reach US$60,201.5 mn by 2025 at a CAGR of 22.4% from 2017 to 2025.

In terms of type of foundation, the others segment accounted for a dominant 44.9% of the Asia Pacific offshore wind energy market in 2016. The segment is expected to retain dominance, chiefly owing to the increased usage of high risk pile cap (HRPC) and ground mounted foundations. In terms of geography, the market in China dominates, owing largely due to the several already installed as well as planned offshore wind energy plants and the presence of a large number of some of the region’s leading players in the offshore wind energy market.

Vast Benefits of Offshore Wind Power Technology over Onshore Wind Power to Fuel Adoption

Offshore wind energy is witnessing an increased level of adoption chiefly owing to its several benefits as compared to the existing onshore wind energy. Land acquisition, high noise generation in and around onshore wind farms are some of the few major reasons which is affecting the onshore wind energy generation. Feasibility of land is another key concern in present scenario since it depends on environmental conditions. With a number of man-made structures coming up in various parts of the world which acts as obstruction to the otherwise freely flow of wind, onshore wind farms will face a lot of ire in the near future. Most of the onshore wind farm area are near exhaustion.

High Installation Costs Could Hinder Growth Prospects

Since the technology for offshore wind turbine set-up is relatively new, high cost would thus be incurred for its planning and set-up phase. These high costs will directly affect the electricity production with high cost of generation and distribution. Complex grid structures are required for storage and transmission of electricity thus produced. Also, the competency factor for offshore wind energy is high since its existing onshore counterpart is an already proven technology. Other sources like solar, tidal, biomass also find inclusions in commercial energy generation. Thus in this competitive environment, the electricity tariffs generally are levelled on higher scale and are associated with higher costs, which could hamper the overall adoption of the technology in the region to a large extent.

Nevertheless, with significantly more capital being infused to harness the offshore wind technology, deeper sites are being studied. Exploration of offshore sites is being carried out in order to enhance profitability of power generation from wind.

With more than 10 years’ experience in the field of Internet marketing and market research, Rohit’s passion lies in understanding the global and regional trends across multiple industries and scrutinizing their impact at various levels. His attention to detail and his perseverance shine through in highly analytical articles as presented on Edition Truth.

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